Summary: Spending his season with the Reading Phillies, Lou Marson blossomed into a top prospect worthy of a September callup. His dreams became reality when in his first major league start, he went 2-for-4 with his first big-league home run. In Reading, Marson was a strong contact hitter, showing fantastic discipline with a K/BB ratio very close to even. His average of balls in play was a high .389, so he had a bit of luck when he struck the ball into the fields. He didn’t show much power, however, with five homers in the minors. Of course, he hit one in four big-league appearances. Reviews are mixed of Marson’s defensive and pitch-handling abilities, but all indications are whatever is bad can improve with experience.

Career Level: Learning (Year 4)

Green Flags: The discipline is a nice sign, especially as it improved from Clearwater to Reading. … Marson can hit to all fields with substantial pop. … He threw out 30 of 83 runners in Reading in 2008.

Red Flags: There isn’t much power yet. … Some scouts and experts believe the hitting prowess Marson achieved in Reading is the best he’ll do at any level.

Prognostication: He will see more than the four at bats he received in 2008. Probably a September callup again, but maybe even seeing some time before that, Marson will get a few more chances, but not too many. He’ll stay true to his game as a steady hitter, as most of his success in Triple-A should give him an upper hand to grab a 25-man roster spot in 2010.

10 Comments

BurrGundy

March 31, 2009 at 1:50 pm

I’d take a solid contact hitter from a catcher any day of the week. Look at Mauer of the Twins. He is a solid contact hitter who does not hit a lot of homers. His batting average speaks for itself. A catcher like Marson possibly could make a decent third baseman, as well as a catcher, if he is pushed to diversify his skills. His arm seems strong enough. A number of catchers became decent third basemen — Joe Torre, Johnny Bench, to name a few. Outstanding analysis from Tim. Great job.

As soon as I saw Sheffield released, I had a feeling we would go after him..

and people might not like that idea, but it would balance the bench, and we’ve already got established guys that run the locker room.. he wouldn’t matter much that way, so he would be a negative influence, since he wouldn’t be an influence at all..

Don’t forget about his .500ish slg%. I’m sure he’s going after 500 homers and maybe 3000 hits. If he can go DH somewhere for a few more years and get 120 hits a season he can get to 3000 hits, but I doubt that’s happening.

This is big. I would NOT go after Sheffield or anyone outside the organization. We have Cairo, Ozuna, Mayberry, Bruntlett… those are good options for now. But seriously… release him just like that??? Wow. I would not do that at all, are you kidding me! Was anyone there early last season when he got the clutch hits, runs, and catches? Released? Jenkins??? WHAT! We will still have to pay him, you know…!